News on forced labour

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June 2007

By the end of this five-day training, participants are knowledgeable about the characteristics of different forms of forced labour and trafficking in all their aspects, around the world, and about the main means of action and partnerships required to combat them at the national, regional and global levels. Particular attention will be given to the analysis of NAPs and of relevant measures: legislative action, law enforcement and prevention, to better combat against forced labour and trafficking.

May 2007

This UK action plan pulls together the work currently underway to tackle trafficking across government, and creates a platform for future work to combat this ongoing problem. It aims to balance protecting and assisting victims with enforcement work that cracks down on the organised crime groups responsible for much of the trafficking. It gives specific attention to forced labour, acknowledging the needs of increasing enforcement and intelligence activity to deal with trafficking for forced labour.

On 12 March 2007, the ILO project "Elimination of human trafficking from Moldova and Ukraine through labour market based measures" , funded by the EC, and implemented in partnership with ICMPD was officially launched in Moldova with the participation of the Deputy Minister for Economy and Trade, Mr. Sainciuc, and the head of the EC Delegation Moldova, Mr. Berizzi. The launch was attended by 80 participants, inter alia representatives of the Ministry of Social Protection, Child and Family, members of parliament, representatives of workers and employers organisations and of international organisations. An agreement on the implementation of the project between the Ministry of Economy and Trade as well as ILO was signed. The event was widely reported in the national media, including TV, radio and print media.

WASHINGTON, May 10 — The Bush administration reached agreement on Thursday with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats to attach environmental and worker protections in several pending trade accords.
The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries. It would also require trading partners to enforce environmental laws and comply with several international environmental agreements.
It has immediate importance for four countries — Colombia, Panama, Peru and South Korea — that are seeking to enter into trade pacts with the United States. But officials in Washington predicted that the agreement’s effect would go beyond those countries and could be a template for all trade deals, including a possible worldwide accord. (The New York Times, Steven R. Weisman)

The seminar was organised in cooperation with ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), the OSCE office of the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and the UNODC Anti- Human Trafficking Unit as a part of its Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking.
The goal of the seminar was to gather experts representing ministries, law enforcement, migration authorities as well as labour market parties.

Hosted by Organization of American States (OAS), International Labor Organization (ILO), Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC), Rescue and Restore Unity Coalition of Southern California, the conference will be held to discuss the trafficking of Asian migrants into the Western Hemisphere.

This Summit is the launch of a two-year initiative that will focus attention on corporate social responsibility to combat human trafficking and forced labour in Asia. It will showcase innovative business practices that are curbing human trafficking for both labour and sexual exploitation.

April 2007

Human trafficking for forced labor might be a greater problem than the more widely known problem of trafficking for sexual exploitation, says Kristiina Kangaspunta, the chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, working closely with the International Labour Organization.

The objective of the meeting is to discuss how to improve indicators and data on forced labour, including the forced labour outcomes of human trafficking, with a view to promoting better law enforcement and monitoring the impact of national and international policies.